Suzaku
'''Suzaku (朱雀, Suzaku), also known as the "Crimson Sparrow" is the leader of The Four Saint Beasts and the main antagonist during the Maze Castle arc of the Spirit Detective Saga. His name also can be taken as "Ho-Oh". He is called Lazarus in the Filipino dub of the anime. He is voiced by Nobuo Tobita in the Japanese version and Jerry Jewell in the English dub. Appearance Suzaku has long orange hair parted down the middle, with two red strands that are actually his antennae, which hold his life-force (thus he armored them to be harder than diamonds). On the official Yu Yu Hakusho website, his hair color varies. He wears a circlet on his head, which has the unfortunate habit of disappearing and reappearing in the manga. Personality He seems rather sadistic in combat, as he mercilessly tortured Yusuke with lightning shocks and viewed the suffering of humans as being as entertaining as a television show. Also, he speaks in a rather poetic manner, often pointing out the irony in situations in the English Dub. A notable example of this is when using the Prism of Seven Restoration, he asked if taking the life of yourself to heal oneself is murder; and comparable to an actor with the need to add the beauty of music and the drama of play in the real lives of his victims in the original Japanese version. Suzaku also has a clear hatred of humans, going as far as to say they deserve total genocide. Additionally, he showed no real concern when his allies, Genbu, Byakko, and Seiryu were killed. However, in complete contrast, he is protective of his loyal pet, servant and spy, Murugu and actually seems to care about her safety and is grateful for her for defending the whistle from Yusuke to buy him time; although he could have just been relieved that the whistle was safe and was trying any means to protect it as it meant a safe passage to the Human World. While he tends to act in an upper-class, calm, and mocking manner before the battle, he becomes just as impulsive as Yusuke when things don't go his way. Synopsis Spirit Detective Saga When the Makai insects infested the Human World, Koenma sent Yusuke to defeat Suzaku, who held a whistle that controlled them. To do this, each member of their team fought a Saint Beast, and won. The only one to actually reach Suzaku's tower was Yusuke, as Kurama, Kuwabara, and Hiei were busy fighting harvested humans. He is informed by his pet/spy Murugu, a demon bird, about Yusuke's feelings for Keiko, and sends his minions after her to kill her so as to make Yusuke suffer. He does this via audible commands with the Makai Whistle, titling the tune "Prelude to Keiko's Suffering" in A-minor. When they begin their battle, Yusuke fires a spirit gun attack, but Suzaku easily swats it aside. much to Yusuke's shock. He unleashes the Storm of Torment which breaks through Yusuke's defenses. He realizes that he can't hold back Yusuke's physical attacks, though, while only using one hand (the other is holding the whistle), so he creates six copies of himself. After subduing him, two of the clones hold Yusuke down as the other watches as Keiko and Botan are being attacked by possessed humans. Yusuke fires a potent shotgun that nearly obliterates Suzaku. They try and use their Storm, but they don't have enough energy left. Suzaku then consumes his copies and is completely healed before creating six copies of himself again. Suzaku tries to hit Yusuke with Prism of Storm Torment, but his tentacle had been damaged earlier from Yusuke's first attack, cutting the power of his attacks in half and rendering his aim faulty. Yusuke's spirit energy is depleted, but the fear of Keiko dying makes him dig into his life-force energy. Doing this, he fires a blast that destroys Suzaku's clones and defeats Suzaku, along with destroying the whistle and disintegrating Muguru. As he lay dying, Suzaku marvels at the strength of the bond between Yusuke and Keiko and comments that this enabled Yusuke to defeat him. Techniques/Moves *'Storm of Torment '(暗黒雷迅拳, Ankoku Raijin Ken, translated as Dark Lightning Swift Fist; Fist of Dark Lightning in the English manga) Suzaku surrounds his fist with electricity and charges at his opponent. Even though he barely touched Yusuke, the spirit detective's body coursed with electricity because the streaks of lightning in the attack seek out the nearest person Suzaku is attacking. Despite its great offensive power, it can be blocked with immense amounts of spirit energy, as Yusuke defended against it by focusing Spirit Energy around his fists. This technique can also be used to hold an opponent in place and torture them if used by more than one Suzaku clone. *'Prism of Seven' (暗黒妖籠陣, Ankoku Yō Rō Jin, translated as Dark Demon Cage Formation) also known as "Dark Spectral Siege Formation": Suzaku takes his stance and charges his energy. He then begins to multiply, two at a time, until there are a total of seven Suzakus. :*'Prism Storm of Torment' (六獄暗黒雷光波, Roku Goku Ankoku Raikō Ha, translated as Six Gaol Dark Lightning Wave): Six of the seven Suzakus fire arrows of condensed lightning through a bow of electricity. He only demonstrates this in a group, but has shown the ability to fire arrows alone in the video games. ::*'Prism Storm of Torment' (七獄暗黒雷光波, Shichi Goku Ankoku Raikō Ha, translated as Seven Gaol Dark Lightning Wave): All seven of the Suzakus fire arrows of condensed lightning through a bow of electricity. :*'Prism of Seven Restoration' (回復, Kaifuku, translated as Restoration): Suzaku can consume the souls of his copies, healing him in the process. Never named in the original Japanese. Trivia *An error in the manga is that his circlet disappears and reappears on his head, before finally being broken by Yusuke's attack. *While killed in the manga and anime, he makes two more appearances after his death in video games. The first time as a clone along with a Rando clone, who serves as Tarukane's last resort after Toguro's "death", and in Tournament Tactics as the true final boss (anachronistically appearing after the dark tournament.) *He is about 400 years old. *Suzaku is the name of the animal deity Zhuque, which guarded the south. It took the form of a bird. The forward position of an army would carry Suzaku's flag. Today, the name is associated with having a hollow or a dip to the south of one's house. *Suzaku appeared in a cameo of Hunter X Hunter as one of the listed victims in Chrollo Lucifer's book. *His Prism Storm of Torment technique is similar to Seven Spectrum Array, an ability used by Pokkle from the Hunter x Hunter series. *For some reason, Suzaku's damaged antenna didn't heal when Suzaku absorbed his other selves. *it is implied that he could be a Lower B Class demon since he easily outclassed Yusuke, a Middle C Class human just fighting him with one hand and a damaged antenna. *Suzaku represents one of the 4 symbols of the Chinese Constellation which is a Vermillion Bird, which guards the South with a season of Summer and an Element of Fire. References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Saint Beasts Category:Demons Category:Deceased Characters Category:Super Centenarian Category:Villains Category:Lower B-Class Demons